Category: Main Course

Broccoli lovers get ready. In this video I show you how to make an easy and healthy broccoli pesto that is swirled into a creamy and decadent macaroni and cheese. It is everything you need in a comfort food.

Ingredients

Broccoli Pesto

4ounces broccoli florets

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup walnuts

Mac and Cheese

1/2 pound macaroni pasta

2tablespoons unsalted butter

2tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper

1cup milk

1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

1tablespoon chopped parsley

Directions

Add walnuts to the food processor and finely chop them. Add in broccoli and pulse until minced. Add in olive oil and pulse to combine.

Bring water to a boil and then properly salt it. See the instructions in my video for how to salt your pasta water.

Cook pasta per package instructions.

Melt butter over a medium low heat. Sift in flour and mix to thoroughly combine.

Add sea salt and slowly work in milk. Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes over a low simmer, reducing heat as needed. The mixture will thicken.

Turn off heat.

Add a handful of the cheese, mix in until fully melted, then add more. You can leave the pan on the burner to assist with melting the cheese. Do not turn the heat back on or you risk the cheese sauce breaking.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out cooked pasta, shaking off all excess water. Transfer to cheese mixture and mix to fully coat. Do not strain or rinse the pasta.

Do until all pasta is mixed into the cheese mixture.

Add spoonfuls of the broccoli pesto to the mac n cheese, and fold in to create a marbled effect. Top off with chopped parsley and serve.

You can tell carbs to eff off and still eat tasty things, like this delicious lasagna made from zucchini rolls. It’s low on carbs but big on flavor! If you love pasta, zukes, and spinach, you are in the right spot.

Ingredients

2zucchini, large

15ounces ricotta cheese

1egg

9ounces frozen spinach, chopped

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1tablespoon chopped parsley

29ounces marinara sauce

Directions

Prepare the filling by adding a 15 ounce container of ricotta cheese to a mixing bowl. Then add in 1/3 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, one egg and mix it all together.

Make sure the egg is fully mixed into the ricotta.

Add in 9 ounces of chopped, frozen spinach that has been fully thawed and strained. Mix together until it is evenly spread throughout.

Cut off the top and bottom of the zucchini. Then take a large peeler and use that to shave off strips. Use the whole zucchini.

NOTE: Pushing down a little harder on the peeler will allow you to get thicker strips, which is better for this recipe.

Lay out the strips of zucchini.

Spread the spinach and ricotta mixture on each strip so it makes a thin layer.

After the mixture has been spread, roll each piece up.

Place each roll, one by one, in a baking dish that has about an inch of marinara sauce in the bottom of it.

Top the rolls off with the remaining marinara sauce and some shredded mozzarella.

NOTE: To make this recipe vegan, simply replace the ricotta cheese with a cashew cheese, pureed white beans or mashed potatoes.

Put the dish in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes or so at 425 degrees F, until it bubbles around the edges and the cheese on top is melted.

Let it cool for a few minutes, then top it off with some fresh, chopped parsley.

If you enjoy the heartiness of a traditional meatball, but are looking to eat healthier and cleaner, then I suggest these Eggplant Meatballs. Not only are they easy to make but they are a great appetizer, the perfect side dish, delicious on any pasta, and they make your next meatball sandwich so much healthier.

Ingredients

1pound eggplant

1tablespoon olive oil

½teaspoon sea salt

freshly cracked pepper

¼cup water

2cloves garlic, minced

½teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

1teaspoon fresh sage, minced

2tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1½ cups Italian style bread crumbs

2ounces grated Parmesan

2eggs, beaten

4cups marinara sauce

Parsley, for garnish

Directions

The first step to delicious eggplant meatballs is to cut the pound of eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Oh, this is probably a good time to also preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. FACT: Did you know eggplant is not really a vegetable. Yup. It’s actually a fruit. And to take it a step further, a berry to be exact. In the U.K., they’re called aubergines, not eggplant. Poor things must have an identity crisis!

In a large saute pan, warm the tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add in the cubed eggplant and the 1/4 cup of water. Season with the 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and some cracked pepper, and then cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the cooked eggplant to your food processor and pulse a few times. You want it pureed enough to make “meatballs” but we’re not making baba ghanoush here, so don’t over do it.

Mix the ingredients together and then form the mixture into balls (heh… balls), placing them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. FACT: Eggplants contain high levels of nicotine, higher than any other vegetable, er fruit, er berry. Whatever the fuck it is. A study published in 1993 in the New England Journal of Medicine discovered this. But don’t worry, you would have to eat close to 40 pounds of eggplant to consume the same amount of nicotine you’d get from smoking one cigarette.

Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes, until they are firm and brown.

While they are baking, warm up 4 cups of marinara sauce.

When the meatballs are finished baking, add them to the sauce, fully covering them, and then simmer for 5 minutes.